Melekinh- She-Hobbit
Surprise! New chapter! Hope you all enjoy it!
Kili could feel his heart thumping wildly in his chest. A new cousin! And there would be a baby, too! He looked down at his big brother, noticing that Fee's eyes were round and excited, just as his probably were. He felt himself being passed along to Dwalin and looking back at Uncle Thorin, noticed that Fili was being lifted up, too.
"We'll never arrive before midnight with you two being so slow!" Dwalin teased.
"It's not our fault you spent so long talking!" Kili replied.
Fili buried his head in Thorin's shoulder, giggling, trying his best to quieten as Thorin told Kili to mind his manners. When his laughter had gone, he looked up, grinning when he saw the familiar door that hid their latest family member.
Dis looked up from Belladonna as she heard the sound of a lock being turned in a key. The melekinh stood and brushed curls behind her pointed ears, biting her lip.
The first thing Belladonna noticed was the young child Dwalin held in his burly arms. The child had doe-like brown eyes, dark hair brushing his shoulders, and wore a tiny steel-blue tunic and black trousers, wearing a pair of unbelievably small shoes on his little feet.
The second thing she noticed was another child, this one blonde with eyes like the depths of the deepest lake, such a dark blue were they. He seemed older than the other child, and he wore a brown tunic and trousers of a dark brown and he wore boots that, too, were covering tiny feet.
And then she noticed who was holding the blonde child. Blue eyes like Frerin, dark locks like the brother and sister bore, wearing a tunic of deep, deep blue, wearing a fur-trimmed coat that hovered inches off the ground, an intricate braid uniting several of those black tresses and ending with a bead that was of a silver colour, yet so different from silver. He had a thick, yet short beard, though like Dis, he had gathered hair from it and kept it together with beads. So, this was Thorin.
"Hello," Belladonna greeted.
The new Dwarf said nothing, simply looking at her with those sharp eyes, before finally saying, "How are you?"
She didn't really know how she was, so settled for giving a non-committal shrug, which the Dwarf said nothing to. He suddenly remembered that he was holding the young blonde and lowered him down from his arms, Dwalin copying his actions.
The eldest seemed content to walk over to her, but his dark-haired younger counterpart seemed to think there was no time for walking and ran over to her, stopping centimeters from her stomach. He looked from it to her, an expression of wonder on his face. His brother caught up to him, and both looked at each other for a few seconds before coming to a silent decision.
Cautiously, they both pressed their little hands to her bump, as though trying to find the baby hidden inside.
"Fili, Kili!" Dis scolded. "You mustn't touch things unless you've asked to!"
"It's alright," Belladonna said. It was. They reminded her very much of little Fauntlings who followed her around, asking questions about the baby, even daring to give little, careful pats.
Dis nodded, relieved that Belladonna hadn't taken offence. Most Dwarrowdams would have been angry, but it seemed as though it made Belladonna happy. Beckoning to Thorin, she went back to the kitchen, her elder brother and two cousins at her heels.
"You are a right prat!" Dis told Thorin, wagging an angry finger in his direction. "'How are you?' How do you think she is?!"
"Well, I didn't know what to say!" Thorin argued back.
"The things you don't know could fill several libraries," growled Dis. "You are so clueless at times..."
"More like all the times," Frerin added helpfully.
"And impolite. What would Mother have to say about you?"
"What you need to do," said Frerin, "is go back and be nice. You know, smile, make small talk..."
"Like with our nephews." Thorin suggested.
"Yes!" Dis and Frerin agreed simultaneously.
Impolite. He'd show Dis. Walking back into the living room, he saw that she was now sitting down, Fili and Kili squished by the side of her, asking about her baby. She looked very happy, he noticed. Offering her a bright smile, he walked to the sofa that stood opposite where she was and sat down, trying to think of what he could say.
"How far along..?" He pointed at her swollen stomach.
"Seven months. I should be giving birth in another month. Or two."
"We bear young for nine months."
"Hobbits tend to go through pregnancy for eight." Belladonna looked thoughtful. "My mother's pregnancies varied."
"They would, I suppose."
"You're Thorin, aren't you?"
" I am. Your name is Belladonna?"
"Yes."
"What are you hoping to have?"
"A baby," Belladonna answered.
Thorin couldn't help but smile. "Do you think you'll have a daughter or a son?"
"I think it'll be a boy."
Fili, who had his arms around her bump, softly murmured. "He's going to be our friend."
"Best friend." Kili added. "He can play with us and Gimli and Ori, too."
Belladonna's smile was sad. "The children in the Shire used to want to be his friend too."
"What happened? Why don't they want to anymore?" Kili asked.
Thorin's heart sank. The young princes hadn't been told of the Goblin's attack, and he strongly wished they had told them now.
"They're far away," Belladonna replied. "They're in Yavanna's Green Fields and I don't think they can come back from there."
"Are Yavanna's Green Fields like Mahal's Halls?" Fili wanted to know.
Belladonna was still and quiet for a moment before nodding. "Yes, they are."
"Father does know that she's grieving for her One, doesn't he?" Dis asked, arms crossed over her chest.
"He does, but he wants to meet her." Balin explained.
"That's all very well, but he doesn't know when to shut up." Frerin reminded them. "He's going to ask question after question and our poor melekinh will probably be overwhelmed."
"Alright, now look," Dwalin interrupted. "How about we ask her if she feels up to it?"
"Besides, your mother will stop him if she needs to."
This seemed to placate the prince and princess, and they nodded their approval of the plan and moved to exit the room.
Dwalin looked at Balin. "Think she'll be alright?"
"I'm sure she will, brother. She's a strong woman."
She was certifiably mad, Belladonna thought to herself. Here she was, sitting in a warm bath, the scent of lemon softly floating from the mountains of bubbly foam, scrubbing at her arms and legs with a bar of pine-scented soap in preparation for meeting a King. She'd never met a King before, unless one counted the Elvish Lord who ruled Rivendell as a King, but here she was.
Spotting a bottle of a peach-coloured shampoo, she lifted it and squirted some of it into her hands, rubbing it fiercely into her pre-dampened curls. Her travelling clothes were filthy and the more Hobbity part of her cringed at the knowledge she'd met royalty wearing them. Dis had said she was going to hunt around for something she could wear, and had looked at her bump as she said it. Probably, she was going to find something accommodating for the baby.
She tenderly stroked her stomach, feeling a slight nudge as the baby moved around. Grabbing the sides of the tub, she hauled herself up and placed a foot on the rug near the bath. She'd been left a bath-robe that was deep purple in colour and she rubbed herself dry with one of the large towels lying over a small table, wrapped it around herself and wriggled into the bathrobe. She found a ribbon and twisted her hair into a knot and tied it up to avoid dampening her robe and exited the bathroom.
"Go in there to change, lass." Balin said, handing her a bundle and pointing towards a door that was set far down a hallway of great length.
There were many doors, all set far apart, and as Belladonna wandered down the passage, she wondered how many rooms were in the building. There seemed to be many and considering there was only two of the Dwarves who lived here, this confused her.
The room was of a rock smooth and pale, a hint of blue running over its surface. Over the dark stone of the floor was a deep blue carpet that barely covered the entirety of the ground. She padded over it to the surprisingly large bed that held an icy blue quilt and placed her new clothing on top of it, looking around her surroundings. There was a small fireplace that held a crackling fire and she couldn't feel its warmth. This worried her, how was it so that she couldn't feel the heat of the fire? In fact, now that she thought about it, there wasn't much she could feel anymore. Hunger was gone. She no longer had any appetite, and that was concerning, especially as Hobbits and Dwarrows alike have strong appetites. She didn't know why she no longer felt for heat and food, but pushed these thoughts to the back of her head.
Perhaps it was exhaustion.
Still, she had kin to meet, so she ignored it once more and dug through her pack for her hairbrush. Brushing through her curls, she caught sight of herself in a small looking glass and blinked.
Sharp cheekbones, large eyes, pale skin, dark shadows under her eye-sockets... what had happened to the layer of fat hiding those cheekbones? What had happened to her eyes to make them so bulbous? Where had the healthy, tanned glow to her skin gone and just what were those marks doing?
She'd never lost weight this much. She knew, of course, that a Hobbit will lose weight quickly if they don't eat enough, but she'd always been well-equipped when going on her adventures and had never lost more than a pound or so.
"What has happened to you?" Belladonna asked her reflection.
Her mirror's image stared back at her and said nothing.
She had been given a dress. She had a suspicion that if a Dwarrowdam had been wearing it, it would have barely reached her ankles, but it fell over her bump and stayed a reasonable length. It was pale blue and had sleeves reaching to the middle of her forearms. Little, sparkling clear jewels glittered around the bodice and she slipped Durjel's ring back onto her finger where it nestled safely beside her wedding ring and went out, not before giving her reflection a last, anxious glance, as though hoping that she would have returned to normal in those few minutes.
